Football groups vow to expand partnership

Hugh Boyd Secondary coach Bill Haddow.

Don Fennell photo

By extending the proverbial olive branch, Bill Haddow hopes to help revive football in Richmond.

Seeing declining numbers in both the local high school and community programs, the head coach of Hugh Boyd Secondary’s senior team dialed up Richmond Minor Football League president Rob Parmar in hopes the two groups could work more closely together. The idea was music to Parmar’s ears.

“The first thing we can do is eliminate any perceived animosity,” says Parmar. “I think we both realize that it’s our responsibility for energizing the players and keeping them engaged. We’ve already talked about what we can do collectively and we plan to continue to build on that.”

Haddow says high schools in other districts enjoy successful affiliations with their community programs. He’s optimistic that can be the case in Richmond too.

“We’ve all been trying to protect our interests, but the bottom line is we just want kids playing football,” he says. “And this isn’t a Richmond phenomenon but a province-wide one. If we can make things more manageable for the kids (then everyone wins).”

A two-day spring camp will be one of the first visible co-operative initiatives between Hugh Boyd and Richmond minor football. Coaches from both programs will oversee the training sessions, likely to be held in early May. The parties are also looking at possibly pairing existing high school and community players to form two teams for the Vancouver Mainland Football League’s spring league.

Parmar also hopes current high school players and recent grads aged 17 to 20 will consider joining their community peers in a six-game Juvenile league schedule, which is an initiative of the B.C. Junior Football League.

“This league is a combination of recreation football, like adult hockey, and also for those who want to try to make it to the next level,” he says.

Parmar says it’s also a good stepping stone for those interested in playing in Europe, where the game is flourishing.

“In Germany they’ve got a pro league that is six levels deep,” he says. “And I know a guy who plays in Finland who makes $500 a week for a three-month season.”